<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Source of Max's Powers by EHC</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23158414">The Source of Max's Powers</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EHC/pseuds/EHC'>EHC</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AU ideas [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Life Is Strange (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Writing Prompt, more of an idea than an AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:54:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>466</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23158414</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EHC/pseuds/EHC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The mystery of Max’s time powers has never been solved. Not by Chloe, not by Rachel, not even Max herself. Time travel had always been relegated to the realm of science fiction for a reason: it was impossible. In every sense of the word. So, why is Max the only exception?</p><p>She actually isn't. Here's one take on why her powers are possible.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>None</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AU ideas [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596307</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Source of Max's Powers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was originally posted as a response to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangent101/pseuds/Tangent101">Tangent101's</a> <a href="https://ehc-on-ao3.tumblr.com/post/611342496006537216/the-max-caulfield-art-wall">Tumblr post</a> concerning Max's photo wall and just how bloody expensive it would be to actually do in real life. As soon as I read the short discussion, this idea popped in my head and I had to reply. I'm now sharing it here since, well, why not?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The mystery of Max's time powers have never been solved. Not by Chloe, not by Rachel, not even Max herself. She could freeze time, she could rewind time, she could jump through photos she'd taken and relive that moment in time over again. But how, exactly? Time travel had always been relegated to the realm of science fiction for a reason: it was impossible. In every sense of the word. Sure, traveling into the future was sort of possible, if you could reach relativistic speeds, but even that was more of a trick of physics than actual real, honest-to-goodness time traveling. There was no way that anyone could actually step from one instant in time to any point previous. Except Max, it seemed.</p><p>They couldn't understand how it was possible. And they never would. For all of them were misunderstanding something fundamental about Max's powers. They had nothing to do with time travel, actually. That was merely an incidental side effect. No, Max had been granted the ability to live and relive Moments.</p><p>She could live a Moment, go back and live it again, this time making different choices. She could halt a single Moment completely, stretching it out to last longer. She could even enter a previously captured Moment and live it over again, so long as <em>she had a photo of it</em>. That was the kicker and what should've been the biggest clue as to the source of Max's powers, why they worked the way it did, and why she had the limitations she did.</p><p>Photography.</p><p>Max was an artist, a photographer. She loved the art since she was young, adored it, obsessed over it in a way that very few others did. Even as a child, she loved photography, taking photos, capturing those Moments, fascinated by the art and technique. After she moved away from Arcadia Bay and she had nothing, no hope at all, the simple gift from her father of an instant film camera was the only thing to bring her from the precipice of nihility. From that Moment forth, she poured everything she had into photography, perhaps even a piece of her very soul.</p><p>Photography felt her sacrifice. And responded with its Gift.</p><p>There was a reason her photos (and only <em>her</em> photos) developed within seconds rather than minutes. There was a reason that she never seemed to run out of film (whenever she looked, she always, <em>always</em> had "a few packs left," never quite realizing that she had yet to run out). There was a reason her powers worked the way they did, had the limitations they did. She wasn't a time traveler. She was a Photographer, the living embodiment of capturing Moments. And so long as she loved the craft, the craft itself would bless her its Gift.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The impetus for this idea likely comes from two tabletop RPGs I've owned and/or played in the past: Unknown Armies and Nobilis, 2nd Edition. The player characters in both are, essentially, living embodiments of an aspect of reality itself, though both games approach things in vastly different ways. Unknown Armies has a gritty, down-to-Earth feel, where magick is powered by obsessing over something to the point of self-destruction (loving liquor leading to severe alcoholism, reckless daredevil behavior leading to suicidal tendencies, etc.), while Nobilis has a much more grandiose, cosmic feel to things (even if the game is designed to never let the players feel that way themselves). Neither source is the exact way I approached this idea, though, as I tend to play a lot more loose with interpretations.</p><p>Where could this idea lead? Not a traditional super power universe, that's for certain. I already have the Super-Max AU for that. But let's say for the sake of argument that I wanted to give others powers as well. What could their obsession be and what powers could be the result?</p><ul>
<li>
<b>Chloe</b>: chafes under authority and breaks rules purely for the sake of breaking them. Could result in her having a somewhat uncontrollable power over anarchy. If she focuses her abilities, <i>everything</i> will eventually disobey the rules set before them. Students will get more disruptive in class, locks will fail in their tasks of keeping things secured, etc.</li>
<li>
<b>Rachel</b>: the actress, dreams of stardom, has a need to be liked and adored. Her power is more subtle in that it causes people to simply trust her, take her at her word. Can even manipulate visual cognition to a certain point, meaning she just looks incredibly attractive at all times. Doesn't work on the incredibly jealous and can actually amplify those feelings.</li>
<li>
<b>Victoria</b>: Perfection. Pure and simple. She's been raised to be the best and believes herself superior to all of her peers. Her power manifests as perfection itself, meaning that if she truly focuses on a singular task, she will not just succeed but the result will be perfect. Problems arise when there are others who are seemingly just as talented as her, causing massive bouts of jealousy (Max and her photography, Rachel and her beauty, etc.). This leads to her losing focus, leading to imperfections in her work, exacerbating the situation.</li>
</ul><p>And so on and so forth.</p><p>Like all my ideas, I give free reign for anyone to take this idea and run with it. Have at it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>